HP is collaborating with F5, a leader in Application Delivery Networking (ADN), to offer industry-first solutions that converge application and network orchestration. The new solutions provide single-pane-of-glass management through HP Intelligent Management Center and offer clients the ability to meet the speed and agility requirements of the cloud era.

The new solutions are based on the integration of HP Virtual Application Networks technology, which virtualizes networks and automates configuration, and F5 ADN technology, which does the same for application configuration.

“Legacy networks are static, inflexible and require too many manual steps to securely deliver new cloud applications and services to users,” said Joe Skorupa, vice president and distinguished analyst, Gartner. “By moving toward an automated, policy-based management paradigm to ensure the network is optimally configured from the application to network to user, enterprises can speed application deployment considerably while reducing the potential of errors caused by manual configuration.”

Deploying applications in a typical data center takes months of manual, device-by-device configuration across several layers of network infrastructure. Similarly, applications require weeks of configuring details, such as user connection profiles from both company and employee-owned devices. A typical enterprise data-center network may require more than 250,000 manual command line entries for network implementation, and more than 100,000 application configuration steps through manual processes that are time-consuming and error-prone.

As the industry increasingly moves to cloud and other dynamic computing environments, manual command line network and application configuration processes are quickly becoming obsolete.(1)

“IT needs to move at the speed of the organization but legacy application, network and user configuration practices are barriers to achieving this necessary agility,” said Bethany Mayer, senior vice president and general manager, Networking, HP. “Through HP Virtual Application Networks and our collaboration with F5, clients will be able to virtualize and automate the entire configuration process—from application to network to user—based on policy-driven management, enabling them to deploy applications to users in minutes, not weeks or months.”

HP Virtual Application Networks provide organizations with a virtualized and comprehensive view of a network, and enable them to transform a rigid physical enterprise network into a programmable, multitenant and application-aware virtual network. Leveraging software-defined networking technologies such as OpenFlow, HP Virtual Application Networks use templates to characterize application-delivery requirements and deliver an automated, policy-driven approach to network configuration.

F5’s portfolio of ADN solutions enables customers to manage the delivery of applications across their entire IT infrastructure. This allows customers to scale and adapt to business needs on demand, and ensures applications stay secure, fast and available. F5 ADN solutions create a dynamic infrastructure that maximizes the performance and availability of physical and virtual machines to manage application delivery across multiple devices.

HP and F5 are delivering tested and validated solutions for deploying Microsoft® Exchange 2010, server virtualization and disaster recovery across the enterprise in minutes, while increasing the performance of virtual machine mobility tenfold.(1) The benefits enable enterprises to:

Reduce download time for users, decrease spam by 70 percent and increase administrator efficiency up to 33 percent while ensuring security across the network for Microsoft Exchange 2010.(1)

Free up to 40 percent of server resources and increase virtual machine density by 60 percent, while accelerating application performance up to three times for server virtualization.(1)

Reduce the time to move a virtual machine between data centers for disaster recovery from 20 minutes to 38 seconds.(1)

Improving BYOD management across the enterprise

With up to 60 percent of enterprises unsure of the devices being connected to their networks,(2) HP and F5 are simplifying enterprise bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives by delivering solutions that combine user and device authentication and application access control.

The new HP BYOD solution works with F5 ADN technology to unify the on-boarding, provisioning and monitoring of user devices on the corporate network with application access control across the enterprise via a single management platform.

New HP ServiceONE Partner Support for Networking increases revenue opportunities for qualified HP Networking channel partners by enabling them to bolster their portfolios with a combination of HP and partner-branded services. HP ServiceONE Partner Support for Networking enables qualified partners to deliver value-added design, management and support services that leverage knowledge and insights from HP support tools, intellectual capital and training.

HP at Interop Las Vegas 2012

HP will be demonstrating HP Virtual Application Networks as well as its new networking products and services at Interop Las Vegas 2012, May 6-10, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in booth 1327.

Bethany Mayer, senior vice president and general manager, Networking, HP, and Derek Chan, head of global technology operations at DreamWorks Animation, will deliver a joint keynote at 9:15 a.m. PT, on Wednesday, May 9, at Mandalay Bay Ballroom H. The live webcast will be available at www.interop.com/live.

Pricing and availability(3)

HP FlexNetwork solutions that integrate F5 BIG-IP are available globally and can be delivered by HP Technology Services as well as HP and F5 channel partners.

The HP BYOD solution modules for HP Intelligent Management Center 5.1 sp1 is expected to be available in June with a U.S. list price starting at $2,739.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations, including execution of cost reduction programs and restructuring and integration plans; any statements concerning expected development, performance or market share relating to products and services; any statements regarding anticipated operational and financial results; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include macroeconomic and geopolitical trends and events; the competitive pressures faced by HP's businesses; the development and transition of new products and services (and the enhancement of existing products and services) to meet customer needs and respond to emerging technological trends; the execution and performance of contracts by HP and its customers, suppliers and partners; the protection of HP's intellectual property assets, including intellectual property licensed from third parties; integration and other risks associated with business combination and investment transactions; the hiring and retention of key employees; expectations and assumptions relating to the execution and timing of cost reduction programs and restructuring and integration plans; the resolution of pending investigations, claims and disputes; and other risks that are described in HP's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended January 31, 2012 and HP's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including HP's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2011. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

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